1fastdog

Absolutely agree!

All the politicos win. They can tell the home constituants the "We sure tried.." routine. Not only has the horse gotten out of the barn, that barn's burned down. You just have to love meaningless symbolism.

Z28x

I totally agree. The the talking heads on the 24/7's can spin it both ways too no matter what happens. I feel bad for my old dealer so I can say that I would be ok if it passes or not. I've still never heard a great reason why less dealers saves GM money.

His anti GM and blame Obama for everything post get old that is all This is a GM fan site after all, and while we are all critical you can easily tell the difference between those that are critical, disappointed, and anti-GM no matter what.

El Duce

I've owned 7 GMs to 2 non-GM cars in life. I currently have 2 in the stable. Give it up man. I'm sorry my opinion is different than yours, hopefully you won't hang yourself in the closet and beat your wife because of it.

Bob Cosby

I'll be the first one in line to be critical of Obama on most things, but in this particular case, politicians on both sides of the aisle are acting like......well.....politicians.

What do you expect? They do whatever they think they have to get them votes....which takes money....which gets them votes...which takes money....etc, etc, etc.

And that goes for Democrats, Republicans, or the so-called "Independents".

Bob

Geoff Chadwick

I've been out of albany for a few years now, but I've had quite a few bad experiences with dealers. Those "trouble dealers" get weeded out with this. Those dealers that just dont do well also get weeded out. Yes, they may not cost GM money - but they do represent GM as a sales force. If a GM dealer gives bad experiences, many people will avoid GMs as a side effect - and that will hurt GM.

1fastdog

Bob, did you catch this little bit of business a while back?

http://www.newsweek.com/id/201949?from=rss

Bob Cosby

LOL. Nope. But why I am not surprised?

Typical.

95redLT1

Seems to be building momentum...


http://www.detnews.com/article/20090...rt+dealer+bill

guionM

Auto makers actually do dish out money in support to dealers in many ways. Outside of the cost of support and management of franchises, keep in mind that the fewer dealers a car maker has, the less likely they are to have to dish out money and incentives to those dealers to move those vehicles.

I'm not exactly sure if you are grasping the entire situation and are ignoring large parts of it, or if you are simply parroting sentiment you hear. Either way, let me point out:

1. Anyone saying that the rules of bankruptcy were changed or pissed on can't possibly be taken seriously. Ask them exactly what was changed, and they can't name anything factual. Truth is that nothing has been changed. Everything that's happened in the current automotive bankruptcies (outside of the Feds bankrolling each automaker's existence during the process) has precedence.

2. To this very date, there are still people so far gone in their own (for lack of a better word) madness, that they still can not grasp the simple fact that General Motors and Chrysler would be shut down.... PERMANENTLY... this very moment if the Feds hadn't stepped in, and it is impossible to even remotely comprtehend the simple fact that since the government stepped in, bot GM and Chrysler are making the changes to survive that they simply refused to make when they were beholden to entrenched bureacracy and unsustainable situations that those running each respective company created, while lining their pockets with bonuses even when things were going from bad to horrendous.



Damn right it's pandering! I have never heard of any business going through a court bankruptcy and then having congress override what came out.

I have to say you nailed it 100%.

This whole situation with congress injecting itself into the end result of a 363 simply because a group of powerful dealers who didn't like the outcome is simply maddening.

I see this as the dark side of democracy. It's a situation where something that needs to be done, and has gone through the proper hoops, and given due consideration given the expediency it needed to be settled to save the company is threatened to be ripped to shreds simply because those elected are in a position where they must cater to those who elected them or can threaten to remove them, even when those local intrest threaten the good of the many.

There is a reason the United States is the world's oldest continuous democracy, and even in our case, we have often slid backwards (I can give brief history lessons via e-mail if anyone doubts that).

Before anyone gets on a soapbox, this isn't a conservative-liberal, or democrat-republican view. Tip O'neill once said all politics are local, and I 100% believe that because it's proven every day.

This is pure meaningless symbolism. Obama will certainly veto this bill, and I'm 100% certan there isn't a sould on Capitol Hill that doesn't know it. That's why it's gotten so far, because those voting for this piece of garbage can go back and tell the folks pushing them to act that they tried.

A lesser President would simply give in and sign the crap. I suspect he won't.

formula79

I never have thought that closing the dealerships made sense. I mean the reality is...if they survived the train wreck that was the last year...to me that would seem to indicate a pretty solid business..right? I mean maybe I flunked business class...but it's it crazy to think a company just out of bankruptcy is gonna become profitable selling less brands, with less models, through less dealers, at higher prices? Maybe with no competition it would happen...but the reality is..without GM's low prices/competitive dealers..most consumers wouldn't consider the brand..even if GM was making gold plated Impalas.

guionM

Paul, once again, although I suspect we may be different political leanings, we are ironically far closer on most everything than we are apart.

Many people here paint the "Government" with a single brush of condemnation, but to be perfectly honest, it's us through those we elect that cause the damage.

Each representative, regardless as to the state, region, or district they represent, are going to "work" for those that elected them. That's what democracy is all about. However, when those constituent's views, positions, or goals are contrary to the common good, that elected person is obliged to carry out his constituent's wishes. The days when a good polititian represented his people not just did their every bidding seems to be long gone or the ones left are few and far between.... and that's sad... and scary.

There's Barney Franks trying to unravel what was accomplished and sticking congress' (some people don't understand there's 3 branches, and government isn't a single animal) nose into a business' day to day operation... something the executive brance has commendably avoided to date. But the bill to strip car makers of the ability to close dealerships is penned by a republican as was the amendment by the infamous Senator Corker to stall dealer closings.

Bob, regardless as to your politics, I have to say you also see what's going on very clearly.

Plague

From my understanding, a good portion of the dealerships that are closing voluntarily due to the economy. The other dealers, I think that it is because of location problems. Having a Chevy dealer across the street from another I believe.

But you do have some good points about how are less brands, less models, and less dealers going to help. Here is how.


With less brands, you need less marketing. As much as I have seen people complain about how a certain product doesn't get marketing dollars, part of the problem is that GM has too many products to market, and marketing isn't cheap. So, first GM can save on marketing.

GM can also save on engineering costs and time to market. The G6 came out, then the Aura, then the Malibu. The G6 came out in 2004 as an 05. The Aura a few years later, the Malibu as a 2008 model. Most would say the interior of the Malibu is the best. But they are essentially the same car that is taking a long time to get out all 3 copies. And then you have to market them all. GM could take the marketing and engineering savings and throw it into better development, better materials, and better marketing for the product. Hopefully this would work for a single better model, or maybe 2 models with different price points. A better product could justify a higher price and in turn, better margins.

With fewer dealers, hopefully the people working there would be more knowledgeable about the cars they are selling. We have all had the run with the salesman who can only basically read the window sticker.

Since GM is going down this path, hopefully it is the right path.

Z284ever

Great piece Paul!


I loved this part:

rlchv70

I think it is performance based as well. The Chevy dealer in Belvidere, IL is closing. However, the Pontiac/Buick/GMC/Cadillac dealership across the street was unaffected.